


I Will Always Be With You

by linaxtic



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, F/F, Reincarnation AU, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 05:55:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7031788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linaxtic/pseuds/linaxtic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A birthday/graduation gift for a very good friend of mine. Xena and Gabrielle are soulmates and are continually reincarnated. Sometimes one remembers, sometimes the other remembers. But whenever they meet, they always remember their past lives...eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Will Always Be With You

She’d been in here a lot. I didn’t really pay much attention to most of the customers, but it was hard not to notice a woman with stunning blue eyes, gorgeous silky black hair, and a voice like the gentle rumble of thunder from a distant, oncoming storm. She wasn’t a regular, not exactly. She didn’t always come in at the same time, and she didn’t even come in every day. But she did come in often enough that I knew her on sight, and it wasn’t much longer after that that I learned her order by heart. She always ordered the same thing. Large caramel frappuccino. Two espresso shots if it was early in the morning. She was almost always wearing scrubs, sometimes a lab coat.

Some days, when we were slow, she’d hang out around the counter and talk to me. I liked those days the best. She was so gorgeous, and I couldn’t believe she actually seemed to give a damn about me. Most customers just got their coffee and didn’t really pay us much attention. Or they bitched about the slightest thing we did wrong. But Lucy just wanted to talk. Honestly, I could have talked to her for hours. She seemed...intense sometimes, but...honestly, I was happy to talk to her as often as I could. I felt this pull to her that I’d never really felt with anyone else before. And the fact that she was beautiful certainly didn’t hurt.

One day, she came in looking sad. I knew she was a trauma surgeon at the hospital nearby, and I’d heard about a pretty bad accident that afternoon. Judging by Lucy’s face, I guessed something had gone wrong and I got her usual order--with the espresso--placed before she got to the counter.

She gave me a weary smile when I told her it had already been placed.

“Thanks, Renee. I…I lost a kid today. He was in the wreck. Drunk bastard who hit his family’s car pulled through, though.” She scoffed and shook her head as she pulled out her wallet, but I shook my head.

“It’s on me,” I explained, her confused look turning into a smile. Returning it, I got to work making the drink for her.

I reached to hand Lucy her cup of coffee and our hands brushed. At the simple contact, the shop seemed to fade around me and the bustle of the morning crowd was replaced by the shouting of men, the screaming of horses, the clanging of metal on metal. The smell of fresh brewed coffee and baked goods in the oven were gone, and in their place, dirt, sweat, and the acrid stench of blood and death overwhelmed by senses. A dark-haired woman--she looked just like Lucy--sat tall and proud on a blond horse. I watched as she let out a piercing war cry and threw...something. A roar of wind filled the air and men were thrown to the ground in quick succession as something shiny flew through the air. I only just managed to follow it with my eyes, watching the woman effortlessly catch a thin metal disc. I was in awe, and I could feel my body moving of its own accord. I realized my hands were clutching something and felt myself moving. I saw a wooden staff swinging around me, my own hands moving it so fast that it came crashing into the heads of warriors around me.

The scene of battle faded, replaced by a much calmer one, walking beside the woman--Xena, I could hear myself call her--as she led the horse along. She was smiling at me and I felt my whole body lift with excitement as I began talking excitedly about something that I didn’t quite understand. The world shifted again and now it was dark, a fire crackling as Xena and I lay beside each other, curled up close and speaking to each other in soft, hushed tones. Countless scenes flashed before my eyes, Xena featured prominently in all of them. Finally, one last image--were they memories? They felt so real--flashed before my eyes, a body burning as tears rolled down my face. Through the flames, I could just make out Xena’s figure, and my heart felt wrenched from my chest. 

_ “I will always be with you,”  _ I heard her deep, comforting voice whisper by my side. I could feel tears stinging my eyes, and I blinked and felt salt water spray onto my face in a cool breeze that rippled through my shortened hair. There was a presence beside me, warm and comforting. I couldn’t see it, but I knew it was her. Xena. 

A shiver raced along my spine, and when I opened my eyes, I was still at the coffee shop. Xena--no, Lucy was looking at me, her brow furrowed as she looked at me with concern...but a part of me swore that there was something like hope in her eyes. The gaze held for another second before I felt myself mouthing  _ “Xena....?”  _

Her face relaxed, and, slowly, she smiled. I swear, in that moment, her smile could have lit up the whole city.

“Gabrielle…” she whispered, before taking the coffee from my hand. My gaze shifted toward the red numbers of the clock behind the counter. 9:35. I wanted to leave. Right now. Forget this stupid job, Xena was here. Right now. I had to be with her, talk to her, figure out everything that had happened in this lifetime. But when I looked back up at Xena, it was like she had read my mind, her head slowly shaking. I barely suppressed a groan, then nodded.

“10:00,” I said quietly, and I watched her smile and move to a seat in the corner.

Never can I remember 25 minutes passing by so slowly. The whole time I could feel her gaze on me, and occasionally our eyes would meet and I could never hold the look for long before I started blushing and had to make myself look away.

Finally,  _ finally,  _ my shift was over. I don’t think I’d ever clocked out and gotten all of my things together as quickly as I did then. Pulling my jacket on over my uniform, I nearly ran to the corner of the room. Xena saw me coming and was already getting up, bracing for me to throw my arms around her and hold tightly to her. I could hear her soft laughter in my ear as my vision blurred with tears. She must have heard me sniffle because the next thing that I heard was a hushed cooing and a gentle reassurance that it was alright, that she was here.

“Don’t get all weepy on me now, Gabrielle. This wasn’t so bad. I mean...last time, I think you nearly hit me over the head trying to make me remember.”


End file.
